A new virus has been seen in 35 people in China, which may have been passed on by a hoax.
Langya virus belongs to a family of pathogens that are known to kill three-quarters of humans in severe cases.
No one has died so far, with patients showing flu-like symptoms including fever, fatigue, cough, headache and vomiting
Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control raised concerns about the virus found in eastern China's Henan and Shandong provinces.
The virus has never been seen in humans before and experts believe it was passed on by other animals.
Chinese researchers found virus in 71 out of 262 - a small mole-like mammal
The survey was conducted in two Chinese provinces where the outbreak began.
They published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, also known as Levy.
'Nine patients with 15 close-contact family members were detected with no close-contact LayV transmission.
'But our sample size was too small to determine the status of human-to-human transmission for LayV.'
Langya is a hepinvirus – a family similar to Nipah virus, a deadly pathogen commonly found in bats.
Like covid, Nipah can also be spread through respiratory droplets. But it's far more deadly,
It kills three-quarters of those infected. It is listed as the next pandemic by the (WHO).
The brain inflammatory virus was first discovered in Malaysia and Singapore in 1999, when 300 cases killed 100 people.